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Trainer Glenn Rushton berated for attempting to coax a gassed Jeff Horn to continue fighting Tim Tszyu

An overwhelming majority of fans were horrified that the Jeff Horn camp did not being the bout withTim Tszyu to an end sooner after Glenn Rushton was condemned by the boxing world for trying to force his fighter to continue.

Glenn Rushton courted controversy with his encouragement of a clearly finished Jeff Horn to fight on.
Glenn Rushton courted controversy with his encouragement of a clearly finished Jeff Horn to fight on.

Jeff Horn’s trainer Glenn Rushton has hit back at suggestions he endangered the welfare of a fighter he says he regards as a “son”.

Rushton was slammed for his attempt to coax a clearly hurting Horn into continuing his bout with Tim Tszyu.

He was seen on the broadcast rallying against others in the Hornet’s corner at the end of the eighth round as they called for the fight to be stopped.

Commentator Paul Kent called the incident “embarrassing” and symptomatic of the “amateurism” that Horn had dealt with in his corner throughout his career.

However, Rushton defended his actions.

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“We told Jeff ‘you have to show us something’,” he said.

“Jeff was saying ‘I want to keep going’. We know how competitive Jeff is but we had to say to ourselves ‘has he got the pop left in him to win the fight’.

“Ben (Horn, his brother and cornerman) was saying to give him one minute in round nine to see if he can land a big shot.

“Phil (Austin, referee) just came over and called it and said he wanted to stop the fight.

“If I had been in Phil’s position, I would have been very close to calling it. I have no qualms about the referee’s decision.”

Kent said the questionable advice from his own corner had been a constant handicap for Horn.

“For Glenn Rushton, who is Jeff Horn’s trainer, to be sitting there at the end of the eighth round to be asking him whether he wants to fight again, whether he’s got one more punch in him, whether he’s got one more minute in him was absolutely embarrassing,” Kent said on the Foxtel Main Event coverage.

“It showed the amateurism that’s been in Jeff Horn’s corner for much of his career and the greatness of Jeff Horn, he’s been able to overcome that, greatly against Manny Pacquiao, but I think this is a handicap he’s had to deal with his whole career.”

THE INCIDENT

“It’s up to you, what do you want to do,” Rushton says to a dazed Horn who shrugs his shoulders as others in his corner say they don’t want him to go on.

“What do you want to do,” Rushton repeats, Horn almost non-responsive after copping a battering from Tszyu, to which a Team Hornet member says “That says it all”.

“Have you got a punch left in ya? Have you got a punch left in you or not? Do you want to give us a minute?”

The referee then pressures the team, who appear to finally relent and the bout is stopped.

BAD ADVICE

Kent believe Horn had been given bad advice throughout the fight.

“He was gassed after two rounds and he was gone and already by Round 3 Tim Tszyu was stalking Jeff Horn looking for the shot and yet, when he goes back to the corner, Glen Rushton was telling Jeff Horn that he’s got to walk up and be first and he’s got to push the pace against Tim Tszyu,” Kent said.

“The fight was over at that point, he was in survival mode already by then, to be told by his corner that he had to lead the fight, that he had to walk up on Tim Tszyu, it just astounds me.

“We asked before the fight whether it was one fight too many, we questioned his fitness.

“He clearly wasn’t fit enough for the fight, he’s been pushed into this fight when he wasn’t fit enough to fight 10 rounds, he was gone after two rounds and his corner should have known that.”

MORE HORN V TSZYU

Jeff Horn concedes his glorious career is almost certainly over after defeat to Tim Tszyu

Tim Tszyu the new king of Australian boxing king after destroying Jeff Horn

Originally published as Trainer Glenn Rushton berated for attempting to coax a gassed Jeff Horn to continue fighting Tim Tszyu

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/boxing-mma/trainer-glenn-rushton-berated-for-attempting-to-coax-a-gassed-jeff-horn-to-continue-fighting-tim-tszyu/news-story/519479cfd3857f5064701b07bf950a18